Professional EducationConsultancy

Back Garden Exploration & Photo Competition

Why not take advantage of the good weather during lockdown and venture into your back garden, if you are lucky enough to have one, and take your phone, I pad or camera with you.

You will be surprised what wildlife is right there. It might be really obvious, like a bird making a nest, or a giant bumblebee looking for the first flowers of spring. Or maybe you will need to poke around a little, under stones or rotten wood to find woodlice, beetles or other minibeasts. Even the smallest garden is teeming with wildlife if you take the time to look.

Once you have found something tht catches your eye then snap it with your device. (Remember to put any stones or logs back so you leave habitats and wildlife undisturbed). You can enter your photos into the competition to be in with a chance of featuring in Wildlife Trust’s Cumbria’s 2021 Calendar, and the overall winner will also feature on the calendar’s front cover.Plus! The overall winner will receive a £100 voucher for camera equipment. Second place will receive a £50 voucher. Third place will receive a £25 voucher.Entrants may enter a maximum of six images altogether. Entries must be submitted digitally by email to: marketing@cumbriawildlifetrust.org.ukThe closing date for entries is midnight on Sunday 28 June.

There are lots of other wildlife photo competitions to enter if you get some great snaps follow this link to find other places to submit your photos to https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/other-ways-get-involved/wildlifephotography

If you don’t want to enter a competition on line you could just have a contest between your family to see who can come up with the most amazing or unusual photo from your back garden. Who has the best observational skills and patience in your family to get that perfect shot?

Once you have your photos, don’t stop there, you could even create your own wildlife compendium by researching information about the animals you discovered and creating a “ My Back Garden Wildlife Compendium” to share with others .

You could find out interesting facts like favourite food, food chains, preferred habitat, breeding information, markings, poo identification , sounds the animal creates , an interesting fact etc. As the seasons change you can add to this with new creatures that appear. By the end of the year you will have a really great idea of what happens throughout the seasons in your garden and have learnt loads more about your local wildlife.

If you get any great snaps you want to share then send them in to Education Guru and we will put them on the news page to share with others.